Ildar’s a quiet monster, steadily raising his rating and his profile
since his move to the United States in 2002. Starting in 2004, he began
to share first place in most of the American Opens he played in!

Ildar’s mainstay openings have consisted of 1.d4, Double King Pawn,
Queen’s Gambit Accepted and the Queen’s Indian defense. Maybe there was
something in the U.S. water that made him want to experiment, because
since moving, Ildar has added 1.e4 and the French defense to his
repertoire. He is a tremendous fighter, and wins a lot of even or worse
positions by sheer determination and endurance. His solid opening
choices compliment a creative and aggressive style that keeps his
opponents’ guessing.

Despite excellent
showings at his first two tries for the U.S crown, both events finished
with heartbreak for Ildar. The first time, in 2005 he missed a win
after hours of fighting against Hikaru Nakamura. Ildar later called
this loss his favorite game, a funny and modest choice for what most
players would consider a disaster.

Ironically, in 2006 he had to count on Hikaru defeating Alex Onischuk
in the last round, which would guarantee him a ticket to the final on
tiebreak. Ildar said that he wasn’t too disappointed in these narrow
misses because those were his first two U.S Championships. In other
words, he’ll be in the hunt for the title for many years coming.

In contrast to his generally quiet demeanor, Ildar Ibragimov opened
himself up to the chess community when he entered a poem into the 2006
U.S Championship blogging contest, run by Mig Greengard of chessninja.
Called, “Our Day Off and its Consequences. Or, How Siberian Cats Play
Chess.” it detailed a tough loss Ibragimov suffered against Nick
Defirmian, along with a trip to the zoo with his friend Alex
Stripunsky. Ildar calls literature and poetry treasured hobbies,
emphasizing that they are “only hobbies”, and he’s sticking to chess
for now.